A Strange Reversal
by 12Sprocket
Summary: James has never been able to get the girl of his dreams, and Sirius has gotten, well every girl. But when potions class runs amuck, these two love lifes seem to switch around! How will they deal? Please read and review
1. Chapter 1: Potion Spill

**First off I would just like to say that I am madly in love Sirius Black, and adore the Marauders. **

**I also totaly love my baby Daniel Radcliffe/Harry Potter.**

**Secondly I would just like to say this is my first fan fic… ever… so I'm sorry if it's a bit rough around the edges! But please review cause I want to know how it is… if it's okay and stuff, cause if I don't get any reviews, or if they're bad, I'm sorry and I'm not going to add anymore to the story.**

**Oh and Thirdly, I just want to say that Pupparoux is my total hero for James and Lily fluff! Oh, and sorry about using Molly again, but I couldn't help it, it's just too cute. **

Chapter One: **Desired Affections**

The fire was roaring in the seat across from him and nothing seemed to be wrong with the world, except that a certain girl refused to go out with him. He thought about what must have been his one-millionth time asking her out, and his latest rejection: "Maybe if you got a clue and weren't so damn shallow" was the latest reply. How was he shallow? I mean sure he could be stupid, and love torturing the Slytherins, especially little Snivellus, but he was not shallow. He decided they just needed to get to know each other better, that's all, because there was really nothing else to be done about it.

He sat there thinking of that lovely long red hair, those deep green eyes that seemed to bore their way into your very soul. Ahh…if only Lily saw him the same way… that oh-so-pretty Lily. Maybe he could give her some of her favorite flowers to impress her… but what were they? Hmm, she'd have to like Lilies, after all it was her name. But when could he give them to her? Maybe right after –

"Oi, Prongsie what are you doing down here all alone during the middle of the night?"

James turned around to see Sirius standing by the staircase in his boxer shorts and t-shirt trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. What the bloody hell was he doing up in the middle of night James thought back to himself, interrupting his daydreams about Lily, and making him forget his clever plans to get Lily to fall for him? Although it probably wasn't that clever, seeing as how none of the other plans had worked, he thought to himself.

"Couldn't sleep," James retorted back, "Came down here to think…and stuff."

"About her?" Sirius asked back with caution, hoping not to set off the rambling, bambling idiot James became when he started thinking to hard about something, especially Lily. James' silence and deep sigh answered the question for him. "Come on mate, you need to get over her, move on with your life! You can't be a slave to that one forever."

"Shove off," James replied, though with none of his usual intensity. "If it was that easy that I would have done it years ago? You think I like having everything remind me of her, and how I'll never have her, how I'll always be alone." He turned his glance back to the fire, the dancing flames reminding of her flowing hair. He automatically ran his hand through his hair, roughing it up even more, as though he were flying on his broom.

"Aww, but you'll always your Padfoot." Sirius said teasingly. "C'mon lets go get our robes on and we can be the first one's down to the great hall for breakfast, then we can turn Snivellus' hair green or something. That'll cheer you up mate."

James smiled. Padfoot always could cheer him up. He ran upstairs and threw on his robes. Then he and Sirius headed down for breakfast just as some of the other girls were waking up, and coming down into the common room, still dressed in their pajamas. They all sighed as the two of them walked past and Sirius gave his gorgeous smile, making them all go weak in the knees.

"I love my smile mate," he whispered to James as they left the common room. "Though I still don't get why it puts them on their knees."

They entered the Great Hall, and it was virtually empty as they had indeed predicted, except for a few people from each house. They noticed that the 'greasy git' Severus, or Snivellus as they liked to call him, was already finished most of the food on his plate. They had no interest in him today however and continued scanning the room.

Remus was already sitting at their table talking to some brunette, and both seemed deeply immersed in some conversation about something they were reading in a book. Remus looked up as they approached and nodded.

"Hey guys, this is Jamie," he said indicating the girl sitting next to him, "she's been helping me with some of my Herbology studies.

"Since when did you need help in… well, anything?" James asked totaly puzzled. Usually Remus was the genius they were all copying from.

Sirius smiled, realizing what was going on, or what he thought was going on. James could be so thick sometimes he thought to himself, being so wrapped up in that red-haired chick certainly had it's disadvantages. "Eh, anyone know where Peter's gotten off to?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Probably still sleeping. If he weren't so tired all the time, he'd be the first one down here, scoffing down all the food you know." James replied taking a seat across from them and piling his plate with bacon, eggs, toast, French toast, pretty much anything and everything around him. Sirius did the same.

A few minutes later, the hall began to fill up. James' head however rapidly began to empty of all thoughts save one. Lily was walking by with her friend Molly. Remus and Sirius prepared themselves for James' daily ritual, as he tilted his to the side, and his completely blank expression washing over his face, as she approached.

"Three, two, one," Sirius and Remus mouthed to each other.

"Oi, Evans," Potter said at exactly that moment.

"Lads way to predictable you know," Sirius whispered to Remus and Jamie. They nodded back in unison, and began listening to yet another rejection of Lily's that sure to come.

Her and Molly stopped walking and stood right behind them, "What is it this time Potter?" she responded, clearly bored.

"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to sit next to me today, and we could get to know each other better," he said, "I'm not asking you out… yet. It's just that this way we could get to know each other, then I could ask you out and I would not be shallow."

"And you think one breakfast is going to allow you to get to know me better? So much so that I would fall madly in love with you, and you would magically become completely un-shallow? Is that it." She answered sarcastically.

"Well that was the idea. And I guess seeing as how we both know magic, I guess we could somehow find a spell that would make me become un-shallow." Remus, Sirius and Jamie all burst out laughing at this. "But I still don't know how I was that shallow to begin with." He continued, ignoring the hysterical laughing of his friends.

"Urggghhh!" Lily loudly sighed.

"You know what Potter, we will sit _by_ you today, but consider yourself lucky that I was nice enough to help you, just this once. But if you say anything offend us, we are gone faster than you can say Quiditch" said Molly.

"Are you mad?" whispered Lily into Molly's ear, "Us, sit by these mongrels? Me next to Potter?"

"Relax, I only said we'd sit _by_ him." Molly said.

"Ohhh…" replied Lily, and the two of them took a seat next to Sirius, leaving James alone, on his other side. But he didn't care, he was sitting closer to Lily than he had in a week, so far it was turning out o be a pretty good day for him. The two girls began piling food on to their plates, as James began staring intently at Lily.

Oh god, here we go, thought Sirius, now he can drool at her, and she'll actually be close enough to see, not that you couldn't spot him from space. He was however quite grateful to Molly for helping out his little Prongsie, and the fact that now they wouldn't have to listen to James babble on about her at breakfast was a bonus. He turned to thank her when his mouth went dry and his throat seized up. Had he not managed to close his mouth in time, a goggling sound would probably have come out. She was gorgeous, and not having the chance to properly look at her while she was standing there, being to busy laughing at James, he hadn't noticed how incredibly pretty she looked.

He also didn't recognize her as any of the girls from Hogwarts. He took great pride in knowing every beautiful girl at his school, in all the houses, fifth years and up. He may not have known their names, even some of the ones he was going out with, but he could certainly recognized their faces.

"Uhhh…" was all he managed to say, totally shocked at what was happening to him. This was Sirius, girls froze up at the sight of him, not the other way around!

"What?" she asked politely, then noticing the odd expression on his face, she asked "Why are you staring at me?" becoming slightly more self-conscious.

"Ohh," he said snapping out of it, "I was just wondering how long you've been going to Hogwarts, seeing as how I didn't recognize you as being from Hogwarts."

"You have a very keen eye," she remarked, blushing ever so slightly. That was more like it thought Sirius.

"She's just transferred here from Beaubatons a few days ago," replied Lily casually, being sure not to look at James. "I've been showing her around."

'Thought so,' Sirius said to himself. Remus looked over and guessed what was going on. Who else but Sirius would immediately know if a decent looking girl went to Hogwarts or not? He turned back to his own plate however and began discussing the effects of Gillyweed with Jamie again.

"So, Evans, are you staying here for Christmas break?" James threw in.

"Sadly, yes. My parents are going on vacation, and my grandmother is out of town for a while, though I don't know why. But if you're getting any funny ideas, you can forget them right now."

"I wasn't thinking anything, but I was wondering if maybe you would… if you wanted to… well if you'd come with me to – "

"Hey guys sorry I'm late, I overslept a little." They all turned to see Peter Pettigrew taking a seat across from them next to Remus and Jamie. Damn it thought James, this guy has the worst timing ever, although he probably did save me an embarrassment.

"Overslept? When you're not sleeping, you're eating," the rest of the marauders said, as Peter piled an enormous quantity of food on to his plate, and began inhaling his food.

After a few more random conversations on nothing in particuliar, and James resisted the urge to make a fool out of himself, they all left to go to their first class: Potions. The marauders turned down the hallway towards the dungeons and entered their first class of the day. Potions was the most hated part of school for the marauders, and it was made no easier by the fact that they had to take it with Slytherin. And there was always that 'greasy-haired git' who loved to show off his potions skills.

They all took their seats and pulled out their books and pieces of parchment. The marauders immediately cast spells on their parchment so they could have their usual four-way conversation notes during class. Lily and Molly took the paired seats on the left side of the class beside James and Sirius' paired desks down the center row, with Jamie and Remus sitting right behind them. Peter sat behind Lily and Molly with another Gryffindor.

The Marauders began writing their four-way notes to each other:

Padfoot: Hey look, grease ball is sitting in the front row again. What a teachers pet!

Prongs: God, I wish the kid could get over himself for like one day, just 'cause he thinks he's all that in potions…

Padfoot: Yah, tell me about it, so what were you going to ask Lily at breakfast before _Peter_ so rudly interrupted?

Wormtail: Shut-up Padfoot.

Prongs: Well I was going to ask her if maybe she wanted to help me to with some of my potions lessons, seeing as how I'm really not that great at brewing potions and all, as you've might have guessed at.

Moony: I think we've all noticed that Prongs.

Padfoot: Give the guy a break, besides you're the one getting _'tutoring'_ in a subject you have no problem with… so how's that going anyway, gotten to any snogging yet? Hun, hun? You know yah wanna.

Moony: Leave it be Padfoot! No, we haven't done anything you surely would have done, but actually it's not going to badly. She's really quite nice, and very smart.

Prongs: phff the bookish type? So that's what that was all about.

Padfoot: Prongsie, you know I love you, but you are so damn THICK sometimes!

Wormtail: Can't blame him, all wrapped up in his love affair with Lily.

Prongs: Shut-up Wormtail.

Moony: Tell you what Prongs, try for once not asking Lily out, and try talking to her without that in mind. You might be able to actually have a decent conversation. Who knows maybe if you go one day without trying to ask her out, she actually be nice back.

Padfoot: And then she might actually consider being with you if you were 'the last guy on the planet.' Is that it Moony?

Prongs: Shove off Padfoot. Besides, we all know you're far too interested in Molly right now.

Padfoot: Why I have no idea what you're talking, well actually writing about, my dear Prongsie.

"Alright and you can begin brewing your Crocoa Menarding potions now. Be sure to follow the instructions very carefully." said Proffessor Slughorn, interrupting their note and James' chance for a slightly evil comeback.

The marauders began on their potions brewing along with the rest of the class. Sirius and James began cutting up each other's ingredients. James was cutting up all the roots, and Sirius slicing up all the pig kidneys. Severus was running all across the room like a madman, to the cupboard, back to his potion, over to the cabinets, now to the store cupboard, back to his cauldron, scribbling random notes all through his textbook. "Madman, he is," James whispered to Sirius, nodding in the direction of Snivellus.

Professor Slughorn began walking up and down the aisles. "Well done Miss. Evans, very good indeed." "Ahh… Mr. Snape adding more unidentified ingredients to your potion I see? What have I told you about that? It may become unstable, and please try to refrain from scratching out all the instructions in your textbook."

At that James and Sirius let out a sly laugh, along with most of the rest of the class.

"What are you laughing at Black?" Severus retorted. "At least I am worth something and my parents love me! At least I could brew a potion to save my life, or at least that of the filthy mudblood you're friends so desperately in love with!" Severus still hated the marauders for everything they had done to him in the past, even though they had been significantly nicer to him since their fifth year together.

James clenched his fists in anger. How dare he insult his friends like that! And his dear Lily, for no reason at all! Insult him if you will but how dare he insult Lily like that! And to take a shot on Sirius family like that was just not right. She was at least as good at brewing potions as he was! The nerve of him. "How dare you say that about her? She is a t least as good in potions as you if not better! And Sirius has a family that loves more than yours ever will!" he yelled, an intense fury building within him.

"What family, I thought his own mother threw him out." Said the pale faced git.

"You don't need to be blood to be family!" yelled James, referring to the fact that Sirius now lived with him, ever since he ran away during his fifth year at Hogwarts. Sirius smiled at him. "And dare you bring Lily into this! She has never done anything but be sweet and nice to you the whole time you've known each other! You've never done a thing to deserve her kindness you slimy git!"

He felt himself begin to stand up, but felt a firm grip on his shoulder. "We'll get him later mate! I promise, but Slughorn's right there." Said Sirius quietly enough so only James could hear what he was saying.

Class was almost over. James sat back down and glanced back at Lily. She had a distinct paleness of face, and although she was not crying, for she would never show herself to cry or be perceived as weak in public, he could tell she was clearly hurt by Snape's words. No matter how many good things you do for someone, I guess you can't stop them from being the jerks they really are, James thought to himself. She didn't deserve that, to be humiliated in front of everyone like that.

He sat there, slowly getting angrier and angrier. He began mixing his potion way to fast and the mixture turned from the intended light blue to a waxy orange. He hated Snape, and the way he treated everyone. He unknowingly added two of the ingredients too soon and in the incorrect order.

"James watch out for your potion," warned Sirius, but it was too late.

The orange and now purple paste splattered upwards and all over the desk and on the front of James' robes.

"Careful, or you'll end up like your pal Sirius there," sneered Severus, as he handed his potions sample to the professor and strut out of the room.

"Mr. Potter, you will need to meet me here after dinner for a make-up lesson. And I highly suggest you find yourself a tutor, one who might help you keep your potions from exploding." The Professor said as James began emptying his cauldron and cleaning off his desk.

Everyone left the class, and soon the only people left were James, Lily and Molly.

"Go on," whispered Molly into Lily's ear, "Trust me, I have a good intuition on these things. You won't regret it."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," said Lily as Molly left the classroom, and turned out into the hallway. Sirius ran over to meet up with her.

"Oi, Molly. How about you and I go down to Hogsmead this afternoon together, and get a butterbear together or something?" Sirius said putting on that gorgeous smile of his.

Molly showed no notice of any change, and the smile didn't seem to affect her at all. Sirius became amazed by her resilience to his charm. Hmmm, this is rare, and she's so gorgeous too, now I really hope she says yes, Sirius thought to himself.

"Sorry, but I promised Lily I'd spend some time with her tonight. See you around." She said running off toward the common rooms.

He'd been turned down. The Great Handsome Sirius Black had been turned down. He stood frozen in the hallway, completely at a loss for words, or even thought. How could she resist him? Everybody loved him! He'd never been turned before in his life. He did find it strangely attractive though. He had to have her now, not only to keep his record clean but also to, well, he wasn't exactly sure, but there was something else there, he could feel it. He finally felt as though he could relate to his old pal Prongsie, but that couldn't be a good thing he was sure.

James had finally finished cleaning up his potion disaster, gathered his textbook and turned to leave the classroom. As he did, he collided into Lily, and sent her books flying, landing all over the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Eva – Lily, I didn't mean to run into you there, didn't see you," he said, bending down to collect her books for her.

"Umm, James, thanks for uhh… well… for standing up for me in class today. It was really nice of you, though you didn't need to."

"Hey, no problem, nobody deserves to be spoken to like that. Especially you. You're really sweet, and you've been so nice to him. It was really uncalled for." He said looking into her lovely green eyes.

He saw her start a smile, but quickly repress it, but it was there nonetheless. Was Lily warming up to him?

"Well, I was thinking, since you've actually been nice to me all day, and not been a total git to anyone…" she paused. Now she was beginning to tense up pretty badly.

Whatever it was, she was now having second doubts about continuing. They sat kneeling on the floor, one arm clutching all her books and holding them tight against her side, and the other hand supporting herself on floor. James made up his mind, he needed to relax her if he was ever going to figure out the rest of that sentence. He ever so gently placed his hand on top of hers. It was warm, whether because she was nervous, or it was supporting her weight he couldn't tell. He looked her in the eyes urging her to go on, their faces not too far apart.

He began to get really nervous himself though, fearing she might pull away from him. But for some reason, this time the gesture seemed to have its intended effect of relaxing her, as oppose to making her want to pull away even more.

"I was thinking maybe, sometime we could, umm…"

This was it. Was what he had been hoping for so long was about to come true?

Was she about to ask him what he thought she was?

**Kay, sorry it's not the best ever, but it is my very first fanfic, and I promise it will get way more interesting, and hopefully funnier too.**

**I know it's kinda boring but please give some reviews, and some ideas on how I can make it better! Thanks a ton guys!**

**Please Review.**

**Until next, **

**Sprocket**


	2. Chapter 2: Duel For Her Heart

**First off I would just like to say that I am madly in love Sirius Black, and adore the Marauders. I also totally love my baby Daniel Radcliffe/Harry Potter.**

**_Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, are pleased to present the Marauders Map. _(Definitely one of my favourite quotes)**

**Kay guys, sorry it took so long to update, I've been pretty busy.**

**Anyways, I want to say thanks to Llyana for her review, so just to clarify, the Molly in this story is not Molly Weasley, it's a different character. But thanks a ton to all my reviewers for all the encouragement, it was really nice, and really appreciated. **

**Especially Kioku Kagami… you know who you are, lolz. Love ya Am's.)**

**Okay, this chapter is a bit different from the last, it's mostly plot building and stuff, so there's not a lot comedy or any good romantic fluff and stuff in this one, although I guess that's sort of what the last one was too (oh well). Anyways, on with the show (or in this case: on with the reading).**

"_I was thinking maybe, sometime we could, umm…"_

_This was it. Was what he had been hoping for so long was about to come true? _

_Was she about to ask him what he thought she was? _

Chapter Two: **Duel for her Heart **

"I was thinking that maybe I could tutor you in Potions," said a slightly nervous Lily, "if that's alright with you?"

This wasn't exactly the question James was expecting, but he would certainly take it. In fact, if he had not heard it himself, he would not have believed it! Lily was warming up to him so quickly, especially seeing as how the only thing he had done lately was defend her from that slime ball, Snivellus.

His confusion suddenly turned into a slight embarrassment when he came to his senses and realized just how much he was smiling. He tried to suppress it, but couldn't manage to hold it in at all. He felt so stupid just sitting there, with nothing to say, and he realized he must have looked completely mental. James tried to answer her, but no words would come out of his mouth.

_Oh man, oh man! She finally shows some interest in me, and I'm too dumb-struck to even answer her!_ James thought to himself. He hated how he turned into a blubbering mass of jelly every time she came around, but this was the worst possible thing he could imagine. Why couldn't he just answer her?

Lily stared at James, thoroughly amused by his ridiculous expression. Normally, this would have driven her insane, being the exact thing she would try to avoid every morning at breakfast, but for some reason, she found it oddly attractive. _Today,_ she thought to herself,_ things are different, I don't know why, but they are, _and for the first time, she could sense a total sincerity behind that goofy, awe-struck smile she never noticed before.

"I'll take that ridiculous smile as a yes," she said, trying to suppress her own laughter.

"y-y-yah… ab-absolutely," was all James managed to stammer out, and before he knew what he was doing, he had his arms wrapped around Lily in a tight embrace.

Lily, taken slightly aback by this gesture, although it was not completely unexpected, instinctively began to pull away. James didn't seem to care though and held her tighter, as though if he were to let go, she would slip away and he would wake up to find it only a dream. Lily seemed to sense how he felt, and after a brief hesitation, she dropped her books, and wrapped her arms around him as well.

They pulled apart after what seemed like hours together, although was really only a few seconds, and James helped Lily pick up her books again.

"So, we'll meet in the common room after dinner then, and I'll run through some potions lessons with you, okay."

"Sure, see you then," said James, and the two ran off to their next class.

James ran off to his Transfiguration class, and took a seat next to Sirius, as usual.

"Hey mate, I have got to tell you something!" he whispered into his ear.

"Oh no you do not," said Professor McGonagall, "James you can go sit on the other side of the class next to Mr. Falangee. I'll not have you two disrupting my class before it even begins."

James protested, but in the end lost. It was impossible to argue with Professor McGonagall. She always ended up winning.

At lunch, Sirius was again trying to get Molly to go with him to Hogsmead. James could see no point in telling Remus and Peter the story if Sirius wasn't going to be there.

The rest of the classes proceeded similarly. In herbology they were separated into pairs in order to discuss the adverse effects of the Liollenac plant, and to transplant them. Naturally, the marauders were all separated. Charms class was much the same as Transfiguration, and the marauders were separated before James even entered the class. He figured he'd just have to tell them at dinner.

The class was dismissed and James lost sight of Sirius and Remus in the cluster of the exiting class. He did however manage find Peter and the two of them walked down to the Great Hall. As he entered he automatically began scanning for the other two, but couldn't find them.

"Where are Monny and Padfoot?" he asked Peter, although he wasn't expecting an answer. Wormtail rarely knew what was going on, and was usually the last of the group to find anything out, though not for lack of trying. He was basically obsessed with James and Sirius.

"They went up to Gryffindor tower. Sirius wasn't feeling to hot, probably something to do with that potions disaster if you ask me. He got sprayed with some of that stuff too you know? Been acting strange ever since." Replied Wormtail quite uncharacteristically. He sat down and took a huge helping of pudding and a large piece of roast beef and piled them onto his ever shrinking plate.

After James recovered from the shock of Peter actually answering a question, and not stupidly, he said he was off to go find them and see what they were up to. He rushed out of the Great Hall and ran all the way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Mumbarda" he said, and the portrait swung open. He entered into the Gryffindor common room, only to find Sirius and Remus seated in the couch next to the fire, and oddly enough, only two girls were crowded around them.

He walked up to them, his ridiculous grinning expression beginning to make its way back onto his face as he thought about Lily. He was about to blurt out the whole thing when he saw Sirius was slumped in his chair, and his usual devilish grin was gone. He was staring at the fire with a totally blank expression. It briefly reminded James of himself after a particularly bad rejection by Evans. Something was wrong with his Padfoot!

"Hey, forget about it mate," Remus said looking slightly concerned about the well being of his best friend. "She'll realize what she's missing out on and then she'll be sorry. Besides, there are plenty of other pretty girls for you to hit on, and flirt with."

""Nope!" said Sirius firmly, yet very depressively, "There's something special about her. I can feel it. It's just… I just don't understand it, she seemed totally into me at breakfast. And nobody has ever turned down the Great Sirius Black! No one has ever managed to resist me! ME!" he said pointing a finger at himself.

"Never?"

"Ummm… nope, never!" he replied confidently, "It's just not done." He was very proud of his no rejection record, unlike his pal Prongsie. He threw his trademark grin and gleaming eyes at the two girls sitting across from him. They both sighed and sunk in their chairs. "See, there's something wrong with me today. The girls aren't reacting like they normally do. With that smile and eye combination right there, one of them would be sure to faint! After all, it is me we're talking about."

"What's going on?" asked a very confused James.

"It seems as though our beloved Padfoot has had his very first rejection." Said Remus, "ever!"

"Wow, that's a first," said James trying to suppress a giggle. He'd been waiting for this moment for a very long time. He was beginning to think Sirius would never be single! "It's Molly isn't it? Well, don't worry about it mate, you'll get used to it after a while," he added, giving Sirius a slap on the shoulder.

At that moment about four more girls walked into the common room.

"What?" yelled Sirius, "I'll get used to it? Used to it? I don't plan on turning into an obsessive stalker like you Prongs! I'm not going to start following Molly Nielson everywhere she goes and ask her out about 500 times a day knowing she's always going to say 'NO!'"

The girls began to circle around the three marauders, attracted by all the noise. James could feel a smile begin to creep its way across his face. If he knew his Padfoot, which he was sure he did, he knew exactly where this was going. Remus looked slightly shocked at James reaction. Normally James would say something nasty back to Sirius and it would be over.

"I'm not going to turn into you Prongs!" roared Sirius, continuing his rant. Being rejected sure did have its ramifications. "When will you get it through your head that no matter how many times you ask Evans out, she's always going to say 'NO'? She's not interested in you!"

Sirius threw his hands over his mouth the moment the words left his mouth. He knew he had gone too far. How could he say such mean things to his beloved Prongsie. The only person who truly understood his twisted, devilish nature? _God, why do girls have to cause such problems?_ He briefly thought to himself, _well, I guess because they're pretty, and they smell nice and… where was I going with this again? Oh yah, Prongsie._ He was about to start a rambling apology about how sorry he was when he noticed a huge smile on James' face.

"What the bloody hell is up with you?" demanded Sirius, totally confused by James' reaction.

Normally, James would have decked Sirius in the face by now, or put a hex on him or something, but he didn't. He just sat there smiling.

James watched Sirius begin too scratch his head, completely dumbstruck. He loved watching Padfoot when he was confused or left out of the loop. He could feel himself smiling even more now, if that was at all possible.

Sirius just stared open mouthed. What the hell had happened to Prongs? Somebody must have bewitched his best friend.

Remus, catching on must faster, suddenly exclaimed, "No way! She didn't? Did she?"

"Did what? Who? … What happened?" asked Sirius, now completely beyond confusion. _What the bloody hell was Remus on about?_

"Yup!" giggled James, very unusually. The girls all around sighed in unison. "Well, actually, she offered to be my tutor, but same thing, eh?"

"WHO?" yelled Sirius.

"Wait a second…" began Remus, "She…offered…? You mean _she_ _asked you_? Not the other way around?"

"Yup," said James, the giggles starting up again. "She – Asked – Me!" he added putting emphasis on each word, just to make it clear to everyone in the room who might be listening who asked who.

"For Merlins sake, WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" screamed Sirius, now thoroughly annoyed at not being answered.

"Lily of course!" said Remus, "Honestly Padfoot, you really need to listen to your own conversations more often."

"Shut-up Moony, I pay attention perfectly well," began Sirius, "I notice all kinds of…" he paused. Something (maybe even a thought) had clearly made its way into his head. "Lily asked _you_ out!"

"Yup, you really do pay great attention there Padfoot," said Remus.

James simply smiled like an idiot. He adored it when Padfoot caught on to a not so difficult concept.

"Since when did she even start being able to stand you?" he protested.

"I don't know?" replied James honestly, "She asked me right after potions. We're meeting here tonight to study together. Though I'm hoping something more might happen, but I'm going to take it slow. Don't want to scare her off." He smiled and ruffled up his hair even more, for his _'stunningly gorgeous quiditch champ'_ look, as him and Sirius called it.

All the girls who had gathered round from Sirius' intense yelling sighed collectively. "Too bad" said one of them to the other.

"YOU!" screamed Sirius pointing a threatening finger at James, "It's all your fault!"

"What the bloody hell are you on about now?" said James, slightly stunned but clearly getting annoyed with Sirius' stupidity.

"YOU…!" he said again, his finger beginning to shake.

"What?" James demanded rather impatiently.

"YOU STOLE MY WOMEN!" roared Sirius, his hands plunging into his robes, "I'll make you pay!"

Sirius withdrew his wand, as James threw his hands into his pockets to pull out his own. "Have your fit, I'll make you think, You little git, 'cuz your hair's pink."

James' hair suddenly grew three feet long and turned neon pink. "I thought you were saving that one for Snivellus!" yelled James.

"Oh, and I suppose your sooo much better than him." Replied Sirius sarcastically.

Remus gathered the girls together as they all crowded against the wall, knowing what was coming, and not wanting to get in the way. A few let out excited screams, while others sighed. The two hottest and smartest guys in school were about to battle each other over… well, them.

"I don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about Padfoot, but if you want to start this then fine! En-garde"

"Let the games begin!" Sirius taunted back.

James threw his first spell at Sirius, "Densaugeo!" Sirius teeth grew to the size of a beaver.

"Furnunculus" he managed to say very awkwardly.

James' face erupted in boils. "Hey, no disfiguring spells, remember?" James threw a hives hex on Sirius.

"That was when I trusted you!" Sirius screamed, "Besides, very few people are left with scars from that one, except those who already have them!"

He threw a Bat-Bogey Hex at James who blocked it with a wave of his wand. "Trusted me? For the love of god, what the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Eat Slugs!" roared Sirius. James managed to dodge the spell just in time. "The one girl who always rejects you just suddenly falls head over heals for you, and all the girls sigh, even more than normal, when you pass. But when I, the Great Sirius Black, ask out a girl who is interested in me, she says 'no'. Girls always say yes to me! It's a proven fact!"

"So?" yelled James, as he dodged another spell jumping behind a couch. He threw an overly powerful cheering charm on Sirius.

He dropped to his knees and began rolling on the floor, pounding his fists against the ground and laughing like a maniac. "So… you must… have done… something" he managed to say between breaths and convulsive fits of laughter.

"Finite" Sirius yelled pointing his wand at himself. His giggling stopped immediately and his teeth returned to normal. He leapt behind another couch as James threw another hex at him.

"I didn't do anything!" said James. He hated fighting against Sirius, even though that was pretty much the only form of a challenge (in terms of magic) he seemed to get at Hogwarts.

"Well, something happened, and it seems to benefiting you." Yelled Sirius, "Engorgio"

Sirius caught James off guard, and he began to swell up like a balloon. "Finite" he yelled. The swelling ceased and he returned back his normal size, though his hair was still pink. _That spell was definitely made for Snivellus_, he thought.

"Imobulus" cried James. Sirius froze on the spot. He couldn't move his arms or legs.

"That's not fair! We agreed no freezing charms, disfiguring spells, or disarming spells," yelled a furious Sirius.

"Listen Padfoot, I know you're angry right now, and you've had your first rejection, and you're not thinking clearly, so I won't hold this against you. But Merlin's beard, I didn't do anything! Someone's probably just trying to pit us against one another." said James.

"But… but… Ohhh… your right Prongs." sighed Sirius, "I'm sorry I got mad at you. I should have believed you in the first place, after all you are my beloved Prongsie, and I would never want to ruin our friendship."

Lily and Molly entered the common room and glanced at the wreckage, then at the two men in the middle of the room, about half a foot apart, one with stunningly bright pink hair.

"It's okay Padfoot. I should have been more sympathetic. I missed you all day!" said James sappily. "Finite Incantatem"

Sirius unfroze, "Forgive me?" he said with his arms outstretched.

"Duh." replied James. The two of them abruptly walked up to each other and swung their arms around one another in a tight embrace. "I bet that git Snivellus has something to do with this." He whispered in James' ear, "you saw the way he was adding extra ingredients into his potion."

"Maybe," said James as he pulled away, "I wouldn't put it passed him."

The two pulled apart slightly and looked around the room and realized everyone was staring them. They immediately pushed each other away and tried to look as casual as possible. James tried to put on his most manly expression, which was much harder than usual, as his long pink hair kept distracting him. Sirius puffed out his chest, and tried to flex his muscles. The girls simply giggled. All they had managed to achieve was looking like a bunch of idiots.

Lily and Molly just looked at each other.

"What's going on?" asked Peter as he entered the room carrying a large chocolate frog in one hand and a box of partially eaten candy in the other. "Did I miss something?"

Lily and Molly couldn't hold it in any longer: they both began to laugh hysterically. The only thing they had seen was what they could only describe as romantic reunion between Sirius and James.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," said Remus trying to suppress his own laughter at Peter's face. He had obviously just realized he'd missed something pretty good. "Our beloved Padfoot and our little Prongsie simply had their first actual fight. They also had a nice little duel to go along with it." A smile began to form across Remus' face, "but it was really nothing special Wormtail." He managed to add before he burst out laughing.

Peter had the most ridiculous face, "Oh… why do I always miss the good stuff?" he asked like a whiny little four year old.

Everyone just stared at him before they all burst out laughing.

After what seemed like ages, they finally stopped and everyone began to break up into their little clicks/groups again. James however was having a much harder time, as several girls were trailing him absolutely everywhere he went.

"Man Sirius, I feel bad for you mate." began James, "You have to put up with this every day!"

"Yup," sighed Sirius, "Damn do I miss it."

The marauders simply laughed.

"So James, do you have all your potions work ready?"

James turned around to see Lily standing right behind him, holding the same potions books from earlier that day.

"Umm... yah, just let me go get them. It'll only take a sec." And with that James turned and ran up the stairs towards his room.

Lily took a seat at a vacant table in the corner of the room. At least this way they could have some privacy. James came down a few minutes later with all his potions books. He sat down next to Lily and the two of them began to review their potions homework together.

"Hey Molly, can I talk to you for a minute?" asked Sirius

"What is it now Black? Oh, let me guess you've never been rejected before and now you want to clean up the smudge on your record is that it?" Molly demanded.

"No, although it is true that I've never been rejected," he said puffing out his chest, and throwing his glowing smile her way.

Molly let out an irritated sigh and simply glared at Sirius as though he were a thorn in her side.

"Look, I was just wondering what was up with you. If anything was wrong or something, because you seemed much more cheerful at breakfast, and, well, you seemed almost interested in me then. I just don't know what changed that so suddenly."

"Like usual. A girl rejects you, and there's automatically something wrong with her. Is that it? Well I've got news for you: I think you're completely and utterly shallow! You hardly even know me, and yet you're so desperate to go out with me."

_So that's what Lily meant when she called James shallow,_ thought Sirius, w_ow, we really have switched love lives!_ "Look, I thought you were really nice today, and you helped out my friend James a lot. To me, that says a lot about you. I really like you so far, and besides if we go out, I can get to know you better."

"Ugghhh… just leave me alone." She turned on her heel and headed off towards the girls tower.

"Molly wait!" Sirius ran in front of her blocking her way to her room, his arms outstretched to show that there was no going around him. "I'm not letting you leave until you tell what's so repulsive about me. Not until you tell me what's really going on."

"Okay so if you add eye of newt to the mixture it becomes unstable, but if you add…" began Lily.

"…a pigs kidney, the ingredients will balance out and create a stable formula." finished James.

"There you go! Hmm, I guess there's hope for you after all James Potter," smirked Lily.

"Thanks for all your help Lily! I really appreciate it," said James leaning in to give her a hug.

They had already finished all the material she had wanted to cover in that session. James was after all one of the brightest kids in school and he could do pretty much anything he set his mind to, even his most dreaded potions homework.

"Man, you sure do have a thing for hugs," said Lily as she returned the embrace.

"Well, I just like to make sure that this is real, and not just some awesome dream. One in which I have long pink hair, if I might add." replied James smiling.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that. Répario-Snivillé." And with a flick of her wand James' hair went back to normal. "I got Sirius to tell me how to undo that while you were getting your books."

"You're amazing."

"Well, I only got the counter curse from Sirius, it's not like I… What are you doing?"

"Nothing," whispered James. His face was only inches from hers now, and they were getting closer. James repositioned his hand and stared into Lily's deep green eyes. He never dreamed he would be in this position with her. They were getting closer. Three inches, two inches… he closed his eyes. This is it.

**Okay, thanks for reading, and please review! If this one seems sort of boring compared to the last one, I'm sorry but this is one is mostly plot development, but the next few should be better! So please review, because the next few are supposed to be really good! **

**And if you have any suggestions on how to make the story better, please give them to me! I'm not writing another chapter until I have at least 10 reviews so if you want to find out what happens next… you know what to do. **

**Anyways, hope you liked it.**

**Until Next, **

**Sprocket**


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